Close Asset Finance is on the hunt for a new head following a
decision by Mike Barley to step down after 11 years in the
position, Leasing Life has learnt.
Barley said he had chosen to leave the company
in order “to pursue a portfolio career”.
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A replacement will be found from outside the
leasing company, it is expected, although Barley highlighted that
“the approach to replacing me has not yet been finalised”.
Barley added that he intended “continuing in
[his current] post for some time to come”.
The move takes place as Close Asset Finance,
an arm of Close Brothers, continues to ramp-up its operations and
expand its circa £1 billion portfolio.
It recently launched Close Business Finance, a
broker-led operation headed by the former head of Arkle Finance,
Richard Briscoe, following the launch of its mid-ticket business,
Close Leasing, in November 2007.
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By GlobalDataBarley last year oversaw the integration of
Close Asset Finance’s factoring and leasing arms, and also a 10
percent hike in his company’s lending to SMEs.
Small ticket business represents around a
quarter of its leasing and factoring business, run by Roger Stone
and David Thomson respectively, while most of the rest is made up
of mid-ticket deals.
New business in 2008 at Close Asset Finance,
which has operations in Germany and southern Ireland as well as the
UK, totalled €575 million.
Brendan Malkin
